BAAL 2015 will be held at Aston University in the heart of Birmingham. It is organised by CfL (Centre for Forensic Linguistics), CLERA (Centre for Language Education Research at Aston) and InterLanD (Interdisciplinary Research into Language and Diversity) and hosted by the School of Languages and Social Sciences.

48TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS

BAAL 2015 will be held at Aston University in the heart of Birmingham. It is organised by CfL (Centre for Forensic Linguistics), CLERA (Centre for Language Education Research at Aston) and InterLanD (Interdisciplinary Research into Language and Diversity) and hosted by the School of Languages and Social Sciences.

Aston is ideally situated for all the Second City has to offer in culture, shopping and entertainment. You can listen to world-class music at Symphony Hall, explore a unique collection of Pre-Raphaelite art at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and enjoy classic and contemporary drama at the newly-refurbished Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Or why not visit the recently-opened Library of Birmingham, voted Britain's favourite new building? Birmingham is famous for its Bull Ring Shopping Centre, and home to exciting markets and the dazzling Jewellery Quarter. It has a great food scene, including the Balti Triangle and a wide range of eating options in the beautiful canal area. Conference accommodation is in the new Aston Conference Centre, within easy reach of all the conference events. We promise a memorable social programme to include our gala dinner at Aston Villa football ground and entertainment with a regional flavour.
Plenary Speakers:
Professor Adrian Blackledge (University of Birmingham, UK); Professor Angela Creese(University of Birmingham, UK); Professor Penelope Eckert (Stanford University, US); Professor Rick Iedema (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia)

Call for papers and submission guidelines:
One definition of theoretical and linguistic creativity is when the rules of language are bent, distended or stretched to breaking point. Language is only creative when we break the rules: change grammatical order, use ingenious metaphors, puns and wordplay. Similarly, with linguistic theory. We only move on as a discipline when a theorist contests received wisdoms, entrenched paradigms, and established methods. The focus of this 'Breaking theory' conference is to critique current theories and, crucially, to engage in creating new ways of imagining, theorising and practising applied linguistics.

We especially welcome papers that question orthodox schools of thought in our field, and help us to think beyond them. As a profession, we will look to the future to speculate what the new directions in applied linguistics might be. Abstracts are welcome in any area of applied linguistics and should be interesting and innovative in some way. They should be scholarly and of academically good quality and indicate clearly objectives, method(s), and results where appropriate. Abstracts which address the conference theme will be particularly welcome.

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACTS: 31 March 2015
To submit your abstract please follow the steps below:
1. Go to the following link www.aston.ac.uk/baal2015 and click on ‘Submit papers'. Then click on 'create an account’ to register with the system. You will be sent an e-mail to confirm your account registration. Click on the link to confirm the account, allowing you to proceed to the next stage of the submission process.
2. Go back to the abstract submission page, log in to the submission system and start the submission process by clicking on the 'New Submission' tab. An e-mail confirmation of receipt of abstract will be sent to you immediately. Your contact details will be included in the book of abstracts unless you opt out during the submission process.

FORMAT:
• Title in Times New Roman 12 (do not use all caps, no bold print)
• Text 300 words maximum (including references, if any)
• Times New Roman 12
• Align text left, single-spaced
• Do not use any special fonts, such as bold print or caps (italics fine)
• Do NOT add tables, photos, or diagrams to your abstract
• Do NOT indent your paragraphs, leave one space between paragraphs instead

ABSTRACT TYPE:
Indicate the type of abstract that you are submitting during the submission process:
Individual presentation
for parallel sessions Individual papers have 25 minutes:
• 20 minutes for the presentation
• 5 minutes for questions

Special Interest Group (SIG) track presentation If you believe your paper is of interest to a SIG track, you may want to submit it to one of the SIG tracks (all individuals, whether or not officially SIG members, are eligible). The SIG may then wish to include your paper in a track at the annual meeting. Submitting your abstract to a SIG track may or may not lead to your paper being included in a SIG track and has no impact on abstract acceptance to the conference. BAAL has nine Special Interest Groups:
(1) Linguistic Ethnography Forum,
(2) Corpus Linguistics,
(3) Language Learning and Teaching,
(4) Language in Africa,
(5) Gender and Language,
(6) Vocabulary Studies,
(7) Testing, Evaluation and Assessment,
(8) Intercultural Communication,
(9) Language and New Media

If you would like to be considered to be included in one of the tracks, please tick the relevant SIG in the TOPICS section.

Poster: We encourage the submission of abstracts for posters, and continue to regard them as a valuable contribution to conference. All posters will be listed in the book of abstracts, and there will be a dedicated area and time slot for discussion of poster presentations. There will also be a £50 prize for best poster displayed at the conference.

Colloquium presentation: Colloquium introduction and individual papers within the colloquium must be submitted separately, due to technical constraints. The organiser of the colloquium should first submit the colloquium title and introduction along with an overview of paper titles in the colloquium (max 450 words). The paper abstracts of the colloquium should then be submitted by the organiser one by one, entitled "Paper X of colloquium title: paper title" followed by the abstract (max 300 words per abstract). Colloquia have half a day and a minimum of four papers. Colloquia proposers should plan their half day in four slots, in step with the individual paper slots. If they wish to have a larger number of papers, they may fit two papers into what would normally be a single slot. Colloquia papers should cohere. The order of the papers should not be changed after acceptance. SIGs may also choose to submit a colloquium: please indicate after the colloquium title if you are submitting on behalf of a SIG.

Scholarship:
BAAL is offering up to four full conference scholarships for students or early career researchers (defined as persons who are within 2 years of PhD completion) from any institution, who have had a paper or poster accepted for the 2015 Annual Meeting and who would otherwise be unable to attend. An additional scholarship, the Chris Brumfit scholarship, is usually targeted at delegates from outside Britain who would not otherwise have funds to attend the BAAL Annual Meeting. The scholarships cover up to £1,000 of costs, including the conference fee, accommodation and travel. BAAL does not provide additional living subsidies when the sponsored scholar is at the conference.
Applicants should submit an abstract in the usual way, indicating clearly on their submission that they wish to be considered for a scholarship, and which one (students/ early career researchers or Chris Brumfit). Candidates may apply for more than one scholarship but only one award can be made to any individual. Scholarship applicants will be contacted regarding the application process if their abstract is accepted.

Details of the scholarships can be found on the BAAL website: http://www.baal.org.uk/funding.html and the Aston BAAL conference webpage www.aston.ac.uk/baal2015.
Conference Prizes:
Poster prize - A prize will be given to the best poster presented at the conference. The local organising committee will select poster prize judges from the plenary speakers and leaders of invited colloquia. The winner receives £50.
The Richard Pemberton best postgraduate paper prize - The postgraduate development and liaison co-ordinator together with an ordinary member of the BAAL Executive Committee will draw up a short list and co-ordinate judges for the Richard Pemberton best postgraduate paper prize. The winner receives £50.

ALL PRESENTERS HAVE TO BE BAAL MEMBERS BY THE TIME THEY REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE.